Jeffrey "Jiho" Zirlin: Ronin Goes Permissionless

Jiho from Sky Mavis discusses the evolution of Ronin, which emerged from the success of Axie Infinity, the leading NFT project by trading volume. The development of Axie began in 2018, but the team faced challenges with Ethereum's limitations for gaming, prompting the creation of Ronin, a dedicated gaming chain. This decision facilitated Axie's growth, increasing daily active users from 19,000 to 2.8 million and generating around $1 billion in revenue.

Despite the bear market's impact on gaming, interest in building on Ronin has grown, with teams like Pixels transitioning from Polygon and achieving significant success. Jiho shares insights on the initial strategy for platform development, emphasizing a selective approach that prioritizes quality over quantity. As Ronin prepares to open up, he acknowledges the trade-offs of this model, focusing on investing in select teams while allowing others to gain traction independently.

Jiho reflects on the need for a better market structure for gaming, recognizing community loyalty and the ongoing success of curated projects. He expresses concern about increased competition for player attention but remains optimistic about innovation and growth in the ecosystem, drawing on past successes like SLP and Play2Earn with Axie. The anticipated growth of Web3 gaming is expected to be fueled by quality economic experiments and refined token incentives.

Key traits sought in founders of gaming projects include strong leadership, effective communication, and technical expertise. Jiho highlights the importance of responsive developer relations and good documentation, as well as the significance of token and game economy design. He discusses the evolution of grants and funding, emphasizing the need to understand their strategic use to establish Ronin as a premier platform for building and monetizing Web3 games.

Trends in crypto gaming include a rising interest in "minimum viable MMOs" and mobile mid-core games, particularly ARPGs. Innovative approaches to managing on-chain game economies are discussed, with Fableborn's use of time-boxed events cited as an effective method for inflation control. Teams are increasingly focused on measuring Return on Token Spend (ROAS) to maximize future market cap through effective token emissions.

The conversation highlights a shift in NFT mechanics from horizontal expansion to vertical progression, enhancing character progression in upcoming games. The future of play-to-earn models is evolving, moving towards more sophisticated frameworks that leverage data for effective incentive distribution. Founders emphasize the importance of sharing project upside with players, acknowledging that dedicated players should be allowed to grow alongside the game.

On-chain experimentation is a key focus, with discussions around integrating agentic elements into gaming. Innovative designs explore how agents can align with emissions and rewards, potentially balancing in-game economies. Jiho expresses strong anticipation for Ronin's market presence in the gaming sector, aiming for it to be recognized as a leading gaming chain characterized by significant player engagement and liquidity.

The conversation also touches on integrating traditional gaming elements, with discussions about investments in the Ragnarok online universe and the potential for onboarding traditional gamers through guilds. Jiho emphasizes the importance of long-term planning in building a game ecosystem, advising against chasing fleeting trends and advocating for clear agreements to manage expectations effectively.

Jiho shares insights on user acquisition, noting the challenge of attracting initial users and recounting his manual recruitment strategy during the early days of Axie. He highlights the importance of data-driven approaches, such as analyzing Discord activity to identify active users. Reflecting on the metaverse, he emphasizes the significance of developing property rights within this space and expresses skepticism about the necessity of VR headsets.

The conversation concludes with Jiho indicating that developments related to Ronin are expected soon, generating anticipation for future advancements.